Allport credited universalistic religious teachings, not open-ended quest, for reducing prejudice

Evidence

The consistent negative association between scores on the Quest scale and measures of prejudice, including nonproscribed and covertly measured prejudice, would likely please Allport. Indeed, we can almost imagine him saying, “Oh yes, that’s what I meant when I was talking about a way of being religious that ‘rules out enmity, contempt, and bigotry’” (Allport, 1966, p. 465). We can almost hear him saying that, but not quite. Allport thought that it was devotion and adherence to the universalistic teachings of religion as “an authentic guide to conduct” that unmade prejudice, not pursuit of an open-ended religious quest. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2560